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A new year means a new line-up of games is on the horizon. While the majority of the big titles are reserved for release around the holidays, we must remain vigilant for those gems that pop up on shelves throughout the year. Game.Ars will be here to do just that and we will keep you informed of all the latest and greatest in gaming for 2005. Hope your New Year is happy and healthy! Let?s get started:

Gaming, Extra Strength Caplets game of the month

Every month, we're going to select a game, and start a thread. In this thread, we'll have a description of the game, why we've chosen it, links to whatever updates you'll need to play, notes on any config changes we recommend (or that modern systems require), and suggestions on where to get the game if you don't have it already.

You gotta want some of this! Get in on the fun by clicking right here.

A new Empire

Although most people who read the gaming news on a regular basis had heard rumors or hints about Age of Empires III, Microsoft officially made it known that the game was in the works earlier this week. It is under development at Ensemble Studios and an official Web site (with limited info but a few screens) is currently live.

AOE3 will take players from the middle ages into the industrial age and will feature an all-new game engine with updated graphics. Look for the game by the end of this year.

Something wicked-cool this way comes

IGN has put up an in-depth look at what?s over the gaming horizon for 2005. It?s about five pages of previews, expectations, hopes, dreams and other gaming augury. Which games will set the early benchmarks? Which games will fall by the wayside? Which games will live up to the hype? These topics and more are the subject of speculation.

There are certainly a fair number that we're aware of but as always, there's plenty more that will probably surprise us and excite us throughout the year

If you want to set up your gaming budget for the upcoming year, this article is a good place to start. Go get the scoop on 2005 at IGN.

Get schooled

The Sims 2 is certain to have a plethora of expansions; hell, expansions were the bread and butter of the original franchise. The first expansion, University, is coming close to release and Game Spot took a close look at what we can expect. It?s not just an add-on full of new items and party favors, this expansion will school you, for real.

?the new expansion will let you bring your little computer people out of their homes and into the college life.

Campus life involves studying, partying, and going to class, which causes your young sim to disappear off the lot, much like going to a regular job would?

Along with partaking in the activities of college life, the expansion will also come with the mandatory new items, including the ability to make Sims of a new age group that fits in between teenager and adult. Want to know more? Check out the full preview.

Go to Hell, again

Doom 3 is a beautiful piece of technology and a creepy, fun shooter. With big-time sales backing it up, we knew it was only a matter of time before an expansion was released. Game Spy got info from id?s Matt Hooper on Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil and he revealed some juicy tidbits. In the expansion, players will be returning to Mars, but there will be some changes, too.

?you're no longer the same space marine who survived DOOM 3. This time, you play a combat engineer working under the command of Dr. Elizabeth McNeil.

And if that wasn?t enough, you might actually have to ?think? a little bit to defeat the demons this time around.

Hell Time won't be just to run around and kill zombies, either -- you'll need it to solve a few puzzles throughout the game.

For good or ill, the puzzle solving hopefully won?t get in the way of the grand carnage that we?ve come to love and expect from id?s games. Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is being codeveloped by id and Nexus, and is due this year. Check out the full preview for more info on levels, weapons and to see some screenies. Oh yeah, and IGN has a preview, too.

Interplay?s troubles return

It seems to me that every other year Interplay goes under only to resurface under the wing of yet another publisher. It?s sad, because Interplay brought us such classic games as Baldur?s Gate, Fallout and the evil Carmaggedon.

This time around, Interplay was operating under the auspices of Titus Interactive, a company that went bankrupt recently. Is this the death knell for Interplay? Can it do an impression of the mighty Phoenix and rise from the ashes again? Why bother, is my response. The Fallout license is now in the hands of Bethesda, so I ain?t worried about that. I wish the people at Interplay the best, but I think I hear a distant bell tolling.

Feel the F.E.A.R.

First-person shooter fans will want to keep an eye on Monolith?s upcoming F.E.A.R. It?s an action game set in a world of supernatural horror and mystery. Game Spot got to run a demo through it?s paces and had some good things to say about it:

F.E.A.R. is using all-new technology rather than the company's perennial workhorse. Not so surprisingly, it looks great.

The game is due in June, so we don?t have to wait for the holidays to play this one. There weren?t a lot of details concerning the plot in this preview but there is this:

Arguably the most significant gameplay feature in F.E.A.R. is the ability to slow down time, a la The Matrix, and wreak havoc on your enemies?

F.E.A.R. is looking like it may be one of the better shooters in development for 2005, and the screenshots are nothing short of stunning. Check out the preview for more details right here, and be afraid, be very afraid.

Holiday heat

Here they are, the top-ten PC games for the week ending December 25. The people at EA and their amazing Sims 2 top the list, while Microsoft has a couple of titles on the list. Activision hung in with Rome: Total War and Blizzard is going to be riding high with World of Warcraft well into 2005. Anyway, no matter what you?re playing right now, these were the hot stocking-stuffers for the holidays this year. Data courtesy of NPD.